ANKARA, Turkey — Freezing temperatures and heavy snow in Turkey are making life miserable for the more than 140,000 residents who were left homeless by the nation’s devastating earthquake four months ago and are still living in tents or temporary shelters.

The cold snap, which began in Europe in late January, has left some families in Turkey’s quake relief centres trying to stay warm by using coal stoves or electric heaters as their drinking water freezes overnight. Nearly 30 centimetres of snow have fallen in the quake zone, and temperatures have dipped as low as -20 C.